I have been away on an adventure! Humpback whales, stinky sea lions, eagles and so much more.

Last month my partner Robert took me fishing with his old high school friend. We travelled to the north-end of Vancouver Island to Telegraph Cove. Robert and Barnicle Bob have been fishing in the area for over 50 years. Yes, they are old! Barnacle Bob has the sweetest little suite called suiteatthecottageatthecove.com. It was super nice and comfy. I had the best sleeps.

Now to the important fishing stories. Barnacle Bob did a great job at cueing up the humpback whales. He shut off the motor and I could hear them clearing their blow holes. Cue up the eagles flying by. He then had a grand plan to give my senses a good sea lion roar. There was a huge stinky, noisy colony of sea lions.

The day was perfect. The water on the inside passage nice and smooth. I was not sure how I would manage. In the past I would be retching over the side of the boat within fifteen minutes if the water had any rolling to it at all. Blind bonus that I no longer am bothered by the moving horizon, not that it was on issue on our trip!

I pulled in a rock fish which we released. The guys caught ling cod, spring salmon and more rock fish. We released all of them. Robert one the biggest fish of the day with a halibut measuring 102 cm! Very close to the max. We kept that.

On the second day we went into some prawn grounds. It was the coolest experience. The entrance to the bay was quite narrow. The waterflow becomes quite turbulent at the narrows. The sound of the water on the hull of the boat was loud. Our first stop was to drop the crab traps before we arrived in the prawn grounds. We dropped four prawn traps. When we came back later in the day, we nearly maxed out our limit. Some of the prawns were longer than my hand! It reminded me of the time snorkeling in Hawaii where we could hear the shrimp crackling.

Bob’s boat was a pleasure to be on. It had a heated cabin and head. I can get chilled and tired easily, so I was well looked after. Days out on the water with all that fresh air was so good for the soul on so many levels. I am grateful for the opportunity! Until next time Barnacle Bob!

Now getting off the island is another story! We got up early in the morning and drove to Nanaimo to pick up my granddaughter. We made the 1:00 ferry but hit the awful weekend traffic to the Fraser Valley where luckily for us our son and his family had a bed for us. We had stopped for a visit a couple weeks before. One of the kids got a brand-new basketball. I said we should go shoot some hoops. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you that I got a basket on my first shot! Nope, that is not a tall fishing story! The three kids were super excited to coach me for more shots. We all had so much fun. I topped it off by going down the slide at the playground. You should have seen Robert. I might have been a two-year old going down for the first time. He was beside himself thinking I would fall or hurt myself. Ha!Ha! Not this gal.

I have been gifted this extra time in life. I’m not going to waste it.

Edwina Nearhood is a long time Fort St. John resident sharing her vision loss journey. Please remember, every person’s vision loss experience is as unique as they are.